Following last years List of the Top Entrepreneurs, it would be beneficial to analyze the structure of wealth creation in the Philippines. We can see from Forbe’s list of Billionaires, that the the Ayalas (Jaime Zobel de Ayala & Family) are strangely not on the list and Henry Sy’s net worth is a few hundred million dollar$ lower this year. 🙂
In the past, it has been the landed and the ruling families that were dominating the market. Today, they still are. But newer players and companies are rising to take their place in Philippine business.
In the 1960s and 70s, the landed families are cashing-in from agriculture, fishing and garments and manufacturing. The earnings came from the working class, whether from sugar in Negros or rice, coconut or tobaco in North and Central Luzon. In 1974, the US closed its market for sugar imports. For the next decade, local produce from developing economies threw a stiff competition of subsidized agricultural imports with Philippines local produce. Continue reading